Justice League: The Spartan

Chapter 30

Time passed as the League members all waited outside the infirmary, they were all worried but Diana was the one who showed the most concern. Their marriage was supposed to be taking place the following week but with what just happened, she was not sure if having a wedding now was a good idea.

"You okay?". Superman asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Diana sighed,"I'll be fine, Clark. My concerns lie with Troy".

"Whatever Hades did to Troy, I wish I could have stopped him". Superman said, looking down guiltily.

"Don't blame yourself". Diana said,"I'm well aware of the trickery that Ares and Hades cause".

Then the door to the infirmary opened, everyone looked up and saw Zatanna step out with a neutral expression.

"How is he?". Batman asked.

"Honestly, I have no clue". Zatanna said,"The magic within him was too foreign for me to handle but I was able to stabilize the instability of the energy".

Diana nodded,"Greek magic is hard to decipher for most magicians".

"Thank you for your help, Zatanna". Superman said.

Zatanna nodded with a smile.

"Is he awake?". Barry asked.

"Well, at the moment he is out for the count". Zatanna said,"He could be out for awhile. He has lost a lot of energy, judging by whatever Hades did to him".

"What I want to know is why Hades would take energy from Troy?". Hal asked.

"That's what I want to find out". Diana said, walking into the infirmary.

"We should give those two some alone time". Cyborg suggested as he saw Diana enter the room where Troy was lying down.

             ..................................

It took four hours for Troy to fully recover his strength, whatever Hades did to him had a agonizing impact on his internal core. He realized that something was happening to his forearms, there were burning sensations coming from it. The burning sensation started after he woke up in the infirmary, it started getting worse with each minute.

The only thing that he remembered that burned his forearms like that were the chains from the Blades of Chaos when Ares first gave them to him. The burning hurt a little but he could handle it, just like he could handle the burning when the Blades of Chaos were seared and attached to his flesh.

"Hi Troy". A voice broke his train of thought.

Troy looked up and saw Kara in her Supergirl uniform, she was smiling at him before taking a seat next to him.

"Hey Kara". Troy replied.

"How are you feeling?". She asked.

"I'm fine". Troy said,"Still feel the same which is a good thing".

"That's good". Kara smiled,"I was a little worried".

Troy felt the burning sensation return in his right forearm, he absentmindedly touched it and slowly rubbed it.

"Oh, god!". Kara exclaimed softly.

Troy snapped out of his trance and looked at her,"What's wrong?".

"Your arms are bleeding". She said.

Troy looked down and saw his forearms bleeding, scars started to appear on his arms and he watched without any emotion. These were the same scars that were formed when the Blades of Chaos were attached to his flesh while burning him.

"It's okay, Kara". He replied,"These are old wounds that are resurfacing and I don't know why".

"Let's go back to the infirmary". Kara said, grabbing his hand.

            ..................................

Troy didn't look up as Diana wrapped bandages around his forearms, he knew that she was probably staring daggers at him at this point. Kara was standing behind the Amazon and watching everything.

"Do you want to explain this?". Diana asked after a while.

"My arms started to bleed, is that a good enough explanation for you?". Troy said.

"How do arms just start to bleed out of nowhere?". Kara asked.

"Where did you get those scars from? I never saw any scars on your forearms before". Diana said.

"The scars are connected to my past and all the sins that I've committed in that time". He said.

"Then why do they appear only now?". Diana asked.

"Maybe my past is coming for me". He said.

"Who you were in the past doesn't matter anymore, Troy. The person that you are in the present is what is more important". Kara said.

Troy nodded at that.

"Done". Diana said after finishing with the bandages.

Troy looked at his arms and saw that blood was already staining the bandages, he sighed and slowly sat back.

"If you scars appeared now. What does it mean?". Kara asked.

"It means that something terrible is going to happen". He said before getting up and leaving the room.

He had a sense of foreboding in his heart after the tussle with Hades, he didn't know why but he knew that something bad was going to happen.

"Troy?".

He stopped and turned to see his fiancee approach him, he turned around fully to face her.

"Diana? Is something wrong?". He asked.

"I need to discuss something with you". She said,"Concerning our wedding day".

Troy frowned at this but decided to play it cool,"Go ahead".

"I think we should postpone it. Seeing as what is going on, I thought we could postpone it and reschedule it to some other time". She said.

Troy didn't know what to say. Getting married was the one number thing on their list, but it seemed like fate had other plans for them.

"Are you okay with the postponing?". He asked.

"Honestly, no". She replied,"But sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good".

"We got a lot of time on our hands, Diana". Troy said,"You don't have to worry about a thing".

"Are you okay with the postponing?". Diana asked.

"Not really". Troy said,"But I guess things just happen for a reason".

Diana smiled and walked up to hug him tightly, Troy tensed at first but then wrapped his arms around her.

"This is nice". She smiled,"I feel so much better now".

"I bet you do". He replied, hugging her while rubbing her back.

They let each other go and stared at each other for a moment.

"I'll see you later,Troy". She smiled before kissing him on the cheek.

Then she turned and walked away. Troy only watched her go with neutral eyes, then he touched his right arm absentmindedly as the burning sensation returned.